


Lunch Pick-Up

by TuppingLiberty



Series: TLIb AU August 2018 [3]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Adam has ADHD, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Basketball, Blood, Justin didn't go to Samwell, M/M, Prescription Meds, Pretty much everything else is the same?, bloody nose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-17 11:35:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15460503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TuppingLiberty/pseuds/TuppingLiberty
Summary: AU August Day 3: Adam meets a handsome fellow at his usual lunch pick-up basketball game.AU Yeah August first came from this blog: https://lnc2.tumblr.com/post/174925809860/au-yeah-august. I decided to make my own calendar of prompts using this wonderful blog post: http://perfectlyrose.tumblr.com/post/101118660910/au-prompts-masterlist-of-lists. I randomized the lists, then pulled a prompt from each list for 31 days.Today’s prompt is from the list:  http://wintergrey.tumblr.com/post/120449599106/oh-god-im-so-sorry-au-prompts-we-were-playing-a .  The prompt is: "we were playing a pickup game of basketball and I elbowed you in the face and that’s a lot of blood I’m so sorry"





	Lunch Pick-Up

It’s not that Adam doesn’t like being a financial analyst. He makes good money, the work is pretty interesting, and his coworkers don’t suck. For all of those reasons, he feels slightly guilty that the thing he looks forward to most everyday is using his lunch hour to play a pick up game of basketball at the park around the corner from his office building. A couple of other analysts come with him normally, and there’s a small group that meets from the various other businesses in the neighborhood every day. Or, there’s the case of Jack, who carves time out of his summer training schedule as an NHL star to come play basketball with his old college buddies.

It gives Adam a chance to get up and move around after 4 hours of sitting and typing on his computer, and it’s almost like playing a game of shinny with his friends back in college. Stupid warm weather that doesn’t allow for shinny. What’s an upstate New Yorker to do?

Take up basketball, obviously.

Playing every day has also allowed him to lower his ADHD meds; the first few months of figuring out how to be an adult with a 9-5 job and also ADHD had required a higher dose and more than a few stressful days of figuring out how to deal with the new dosage. Now, he’s back down to the dose from college, using lunch basketball as his main coping mechanism, along with the silent fidget toys he has stashed in his desk.

He’s calling out a greeting to Will and Jack and lacing up his basketball shoes on the side of the asphalt court when he notices the newcomer.

The extremely good looking newcomer that makes Adam do a double take before finishing up with his shoes. He stands in order to casually saunter over to the new guy and introduce himself, all cool like, and immediately trips over one of his dress shoes. He manages to catch himself, but the new guy is already deep in conversation with Larissa so he stays away.

Besides, it’s not long after that that Larissa introduces him to everyone anyway. Justin, Larissa’s friend from before college - they’d met at a summer camp or something. Justin, who’s high cheekbones absolutely pop when he smiles shyly and gives them a small wave. Justin, who promptly strips his shirt, leaving Adam gaping, when Larissa announces they’re going shirts versus skins, and she and Justin are going skins.

And like listen, okay, it’s not like Adam is hurting for eye candy, what with Jack and the 12 pack he sports on a regular basis thanks to being an NHL player. But Jack is his friend, and he has a boyfriend, Eric, and lingering eyes make it weird, and- well, anyway. It’s not like Adam hasn’t seen an amazing chest before.

But Justin’s is … _gorgeous._

Like, “I want to run my mouth all over your pecs” gorgeous.

So that’s probably the reason why Adam plays so terribly for like, the first ten minutes, up until he realizes he’s not working out the energy like he needs to. Then he starts to resent Mr. Gorgeous Chest Justin and slips into uber competitive mode for the rest of lunch.

Back at the office, he takes a quick shower, grabs a protein drink, and slides back to his desk, still feeling unsettled. Frowning at the spreadsheet blurring in front of him, he takes out one of his toys and plays with it as he works out the budget problem.

 

Justin doesn’t show up at the lunch pick up game for the next two days, not that Adam is waiting for him or anything, just noting it down in his brain.

But he does show up at Friday’s game, and this time, they’re on a team together and it’s like- it’s like _magic._ Like between Adam and Justin, they wipe the floor with the rest of the guys. By the end of the game, they’ve developed their own high five system, and Adam is mostly - _mostly -_ over how devastatingly handsome Justin is.

He can be bros. He can totally do this.

 

Justin doesn’t seem to have a regular schedule, and it seems like the time has passed for Adam to be able to ask non-awkwardly about what he does for a living; despite it, though, he normally makes it to two lunch games a week.

And other than the slightly unsettled feeling Adam always comes back from lunch with after he’s played with Justin, everything is great.

So of course, things have to come to a head, and what Adam means by that, apparently, is that his elbow is the thing and the head it comes to is Justin’s beautiful, beautiful face.

Because, one lunch, totally caught up in the moment, not fully aware of his surroundings, Adam elbows Justin _hard_ in the nose, and then there’s blood everywhere.

“Oh shit, oh shit-” Adam strips off his shirt and presses it to Justin’s face. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I don’t- I’ve always been a klutz, I’m sorry- Is it broken? We should go get it checked out. Oh my god, I’ll pay for everything, I’m so sorry-” He can’t really stop babbling as Justin’s eyes shut against the pain.

He leads Justin over to the bench, the rest of the players giving them some space. He takes their clue and finally shuts up, letting Justin settle.

“Holy shit, I haven’t been checked like that since high school hockey, back when the kids were all gangly and awkward, all limbs,” Justin says, smiling a little as he presses the shirt to his still bleeding nose.  “This’ll leave a mark.”

“If you- I can get some ice back in my building? But I really think I should take you to Urgent Care.” Adam’s feeling all knotted up, guilty but happy to see Justin smile. “You played high school hockey, huh?”

“Almost played college, too, but decided to go another route.” The nasally quality to Justin’s voice makes Adam smile back.

“No kidding. I played in college.” He watches Justin lean down, letting the blood drip into Adam’s shirt.

“Fuck, man.” Justin sounds like he’s in a lot of pain.

Adam starts to panic again. “We should really go to urgent care. If it’s broken-”

“It’s not broken.”

Adam frowns. “How do you know?”

Justin laughs a little. “I’m a doctor, remember?”

“Oh.” _Oh. Gorgeous and also dedicated to making people feel better. Oh no, that is the last fuel this crush needs._ “No, um, sometimes I miss things.”

“That explains a lot,” Justin replies dryly.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.” But Justin is grinning, even as he sits up. The nose has appeared to stop bleeding. “Ice would be good though.”

“I can take you back to my office, or- oh, uh, my apartment is really close to here?” Adam accepts his blood-soaked shirt back gingerly. “Should probably get this soaking, too.”

“You know, Holtzy, I normally ask for a date before I go home with someone.”

Adam’s heart stutters over the hockey nickname - shit, does he even know Justin’s last name? Shit! - and then stutters all over again at the innuendo. “We could do that, too,” he blurts out. “There’s this great pizza place over a couple of blocks? Pizza M-”

“Pizza Mia’s,” Justin says at the same time. “I love their sauerkraut and-”

“Linguisa! Hell yeah, dude!” He holds out his hand for a high five, and Justin performs their little motions and laughs.

“My next shift doesn’t start until tomorrow afternoon. I’m going to want to sleep most of the time between now and then, but, uh, do you want to grab some pizza with me?” Justin’s hand brushes over Adam’s thigh.

“Yes. All the yes. Um. I should probably change. And I need to sign out with PT.” Adam’s heart feels like it’s flying in his chest, and he can’t stop smiling. He threads his fingers through Justin’s, then smiles broadly when Justin squeezes them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you like this, please check out my other stuff! :) Comments and Kudos are always appreciated.
> 
> Also feel free to join me in AU august. You are welcome to any of the prompts I use - would love if you leave a comment letting me know you wrote it so I can check it out!
> 
> Happy August!


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